Day 4: A deal made. A ritual set. This is how one decides to celebrate his birthday every year. A single moment of bliss with the king he laid to rest.
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"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Nothing hurts more than not seeing you again."
It was the same every year. The same question, the same answer. A figure from the past brought to the present for one day. A deal made with the gods to allow it for neither were at peace. The past was met with misery, the present doubly so. Light and dark couldn't bear to live without each other, not when one thing they have yet to mend together was never achieved. So one tried something, something that he in the past would call a farce. A parlor trick for the silver screen. But after being a witness to magic one too many times, he thought that maybe he could do it. Perhaps better than the TV shows that often fake the game.
Candles were lit and the shining crystal ball sat on its golden perch, base clearly decorated with falcons to represent whom he would connect to. A scrying bowl filled with water and a sharp knife beside it. The knife was lifted and eyes reflected in the shining blade before that blade's edge was splashed with red. It hurts, it always did...but nothing more than missing the other half that was gone from his side. Friends would call it hopeless, that communing with the dead was impossible. But they were wrong thus he never told them. All except Ryou. He knew this topic better than them and helped find the proper sources to do this correctly.
An offering of blood and a prayer to the god of the dead in the pantheon. Grant him just one wish on this day. That's all he desired and all he needed. Magic imbued with tenderness swirled around him, the request granted easily as his deeds were just as great. A smile and a glitter of gold rained down over the orb of crystal. A portal set and a figure stepped through.
The ritual was complete.
"Yugi."
"Atemu."
A hug. A kiss. A promise fulfilled even for one day. But this particular day was important to both, not just for the meeting.
"Happy birthday, aibou."
"Thank you, mou hitori no boku."
They promised to lead their lives separately after the final duel but their souls called out with need for what they lost. A memory, a reminder...Diva. A meeting so brief filled the void but the moment didn't last long. Neither could convey what they wished. Thus this ritual was made. For one day, the day of his birth, they were able to connect as close as they were once before. Light and dark. Host and spirit. Two halves made one once more.
"I love you, Atemu."
"Love you too, Yugi."
A smile. A kiss. An embrace so deep to fuel their spirits and bring them completion. A day in bliss, a night in passion. The clock strikes twelve and the dream ends. He must return to his resting place yet both didn't want to let go. A hand slides over the wound, a question so familiar on the air.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Never. Cause I get to see you again."
A kiss. A hug. A promise til next year. That's how the ritual ends.
"This isn't goodbye."
"I know. Until next year."
A darkened room, candles extinguished, silver moonlight fills the space...
A royal purple cape draped around the shoulders. A gift left behind and one to be cherished.
"Thank you, Atemu." Yugi whispered as he held the warm fabric close, the sweet smell of the pharaoh clung tight, never fading.